Movie Reviews

"I highly enjoyed this movie. Full of action and team work. Makes for a nice night of watching ."

It's sandhog time!

Ahmed Daoud | 03/11/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Or that's what the cast is trying to tell us in this disaster movie. Volcano in New York is one of those B-movies with a catchy title that you - according to that - think you need to see. I did, and it didn't bring me the excitement I thought it would.

Let's start positive: Costas Mandylor and Michael Ironside are acting well, a thing that can't be said from, say, the movie Earthstorm. Alexandra Paul tries very hard but should not be worried yet where to put her Academy Award.

The special effects are not bad, even quite realistic, but you can't aspect astonishing explosions from a budget spent for movies like this.

What is more troublesome in Volcano in New York is the plotline: a geologist (Ironside) tries to excerpt geothermal energy from the inner core of the earth. Unfortunately his drillings have dug up lavastreams. The first to discover this is a team of sandhogs, tunnelworkers in New York. So far for credibility, as soon as the sandhog leader (Mandylor) reports this to the community-council he is not believed, because some sort of civil servant finances Ironsides project. When some lava erupts, the FBI thinks terrorists are attacking NYC. Come on guys?! After those eruptions the Feds must have seen SOME lava, so no one in his right mind would think of attacks. Nope, not here, just tunnelvision (tunnels...hmmm). Well if the FBI is really so narrowminded then the USA should be warned!

Another thing: when a person caught fire he is likely not to be wandering around the streets, practically unharmed, after an hour. Don't do that again. The script could have been better.

And what's with the sandhog calendar? This theme should have been left out, because it brings nothing extra to this film.

In short, the acting and special effects are OK, the plot however, should have been rewritten. Two stars is fair enough."

DISASTER FILM

P. DEL VALLE | SAN JOSE, CA. USA | 01/20/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"AS ALL DISASTER FILMS YOU HAVE THE HEROES, AND THE PEOPLE WHO RIDICULE THEM. A VERY WELL DONE FILM WITH GOOD ACTING, AND SPECIAL EFFECTS."